Comfort in the Kitchen
by SilentJo
Summary: With an unexpected day off from school, classmates from Totsuki are left with some free time. How do they plan to spend it? With a team cooking duel, of course! Alice and her ever-reliable assistant Ryou face off against the unlikely team of Erina and Souma as they each try to put out their ideal comfort food.


"A day off, at last, I don't even know what I'll do with myself without any classes," said Alice Nakiri as she strolled out of the main building joyfully. She noticed Souma Yukihira ahead of her and jogged up to his side. Her assistant, Ryou Kurokiba, dragged his heels as he followed her, as unmotivated as ever.

"So what do you have planned for your day off, Yukihira?"

"Ah, hello Alice. I hadn't given it much thought yet since they just told us classes are canceled."

Souma noticed Alice's cousin Erina Nakiri exit the building and called out to her. "Hey, Erina! Are you excited for our free day? We were just talking about what we were going to do. Want to join us?"

Erina looked annoyed as she approached the group. "And what makes you think that I have enough free time to consider spending it with you lot in the first place?"

"Don't mind her, Yukihira. Erina has long since forgotten how to have fun and be social."

"That's so not true, Alice! I have no problem finding fun activities to do, with other p-people, and it's always a great time! Like- well, you know..." said Erina, her words struggling to escape her pouty lips.

Alice giggled as she clapped her hands together, "See? All she's concerned with is her work. Don't you know the saying, cousin, that all work and no play makes for a dull boy? Or in this case, girl? And nobody likes a dull girl, right Yukihira?"

"Now, Alice, that's a little harsh. She is busy with her Elite Ten work as well as her tastings and such. But I'm sure she finds some time to relax and unwind. What would you consider to be your idea of fun?" asked Souma.

The same moment that Alice answered, "dueling Ryou," Ryou also replied, "cooking war with Milady." The two of them looked at each other, neither surprised that they'd considered their duels to be one of their sources of fun. They'd been working with each other long enough to know such things by now.

"Well in that case, why don't we have a friendly team duel? How about you two against Erina and me? Nothing too complicated of course since we should try to relax today," suggested Souma.

Erina's face twisted in a show of embarrassment and disgust. "And what makes you think that _you're_ capable of working alongside someone of my caliber and standing? This idea is so incredibly ridiculous. I don't even know where to begin!"

"Oh come now, Erina, you going to let something as little as status prevent you from showing us what you're made of in the kitchen? I suppose if you are intent on turning down this challenge then it can only mean that you're insecure about pitting your talents against my own."

"Ladies, this is only meant to be a playful duel. There's no reason to be so-"

"I'm in!" shouted Erina as she stared down her cousin. "There's no way I'm going to let such smug remarks from you go unchecked, Alice! And you," she looked back at Souma, "we'll form a team, but it's only to make it look like a fair fight so no one can say that I defeated you when you were at a disadvantage. What will be the theme for this anyway?"

Souma felt the tension between the two relatives increasing, and wished that there was something he could think of to comfort them. _That's it, comfort!_ He smiled as he spoke up, "I think a theme of comfort food would be good. We could all use something to set us at ease after having such strenuous schedules lately."

Erina looked at Souma, her face failing for a moment to hide how she was caught off guard by his choice of theme. Her pride quickly took over, and her confident stance returned as she nodded in agreement with his suggestion. Alice and Ryou accepted the subject of their duel as well. They all decided it best to hold their battle in one of the school's lecture halls, which was equipped to handle a team setting. The two teams split up to plan their dishes and to acquire their ingredients from the storeroom.

"So now we just need to figure out what comfort food would work best with my expertise, Ryou," said Alice.

"My methods would work better for this challenge, Milady. Your specialty won't work well with the theme. It would just make comfort food more complicated than it should be."

Alice was surprised that Ryou would refuse to follow her lead as he normally did. "More complicated? So my molecular gastronomy is just too complex and gimmicky to make a decent comfort dish? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Yeah," replied Ryou.

"Then let's have our own little battle to decide whose methods and dish will be offered up during the team duel. I'll show you just how wrong you are and that my work is versatile enough to be used for any theme!"

"If that's what you want, Milady, then let's go." He unwound the crimson bandanna from his right wrist and brought it up to his forehead, pushing his hair back from his face as he tied it tightly. Intensely focused now that his bandanna was on, he pointed towards Alice, "I'll be the one to put forth the most masterful comfort dish today!"

...

"So you see Erina, a lot of my diner's meals are created with comfort in mind, so the concept of comfort food is pretty easy for me to grasp. What types of meals did you find comforting as you were growing up? I imagine you had the chance to try a lot of really amazing dishes, so coming up with just one may be rather difficult."

 _Why am I coming up with nothing? Out of all the meals I've had, the dishes I've sampled, why can I not recall a single one that brought a feeling of comfort? And just what is this concept anyway..._

Souma noticed the troubled look on her face and stood still. "Is something wrong, Erina? If I offended you by my questions, I apologize. I was only curious to know what a girl with your position would consider comfort food?"

Her pride wouldn't allow her to admit her inability to understand what should be a simple idea. She especially couldn't allow someone like Yukihira to know she didn't get it. She had to come up with some way to get the focus off of her. "What I consider comforting is none of your concern right now. B-but in the interest of saving time, I'll allow you to choose the dish for this challenge. Any further arguing would only waste more of my valuable time."

"Okay then, I'm just glad I didn't offend you. You looked a little upset for a moment, but I guess it was just my imagination. One of my favorite dishes as I grew up was Chazuke."

Erina remarked, "But that's so simple, you just pour green tea, dashi, or hot water on top of rice."

"Exactly! After we closed up the diner for the evening, Dad and I would take care of the cleaning and some of the food prep for the next day. Often, we would have extra tea and rice, so once we finished our work, we'd settle in for the night with a hot bowl of Chazuke. We'd throw in some toppings like scallions and salted salmon now and then if we had some leftover from our shift. As tired as we'd be after a day's work, that meal made us feel warm and relaxed. When I started school here, I didn't expect to find myself working harder than I did at the diner. So when I started thinking about the comfort theme and how we needed a refreshing break, Chazuke was the first image in my mind."

Erina nodded, her understanding of the subject much clearer after Souma had shared his story with her. "That sounds like an acceptable dish. I'll handle the rice; you can take care of whatever hot liquid you intend to use as well as the toppings."

"Gotcha!" Souma answered with a smile as the two of them set off on their tasks.

...

 _Hmm, what to choose, what to choose..._ Alice hadn't expected to be still struggling to come up with an idea for her own separate dish. There were so many methods she could use to create any number of unique dishes, but nothing inspired a feeling of comfort within her. She looked over to Ryou's work area and saw that he was much further ahead than her, having already gathered his ingredients and prepping them intensely.

Ryou's eyes were bright and focused on his tasks, his knife blade a gray blur as he chopped a multitude of sweet onions into thin crescent-shaped slices before adding them to a heated and oiled skillet. He had burned this recipe into his mind from a very young age, during his time in Denmark. The sweet caramelized onions, mixing with a deliciously rich beef broth that had been made the same day. Topped with a garlic-rubbed crouton and his own unique blend of cheeses before setting it under the broiler to melt it down. Back then, his days were a constant battle between the customers and his food. So when he was finally alone in his kitchen, having a piping hot bowl of French Onion soup settled him back down and refreshed him. It assured him that he'd secure the strength to fight on another day. Even though his talent was with seafood in its many variations, nothing felt as comforting as this rich and hearty soup.

Alice was still deep in thought, debating her choices when a vaguely familiar scent bloomed in the air. "I recognize that smell, it was in the air the first time Ryou and I met!" She recalled that night in Denmark; she had wandered into the pub where he was the head chef. He had told her the restaurant was closed and asked her to leave, but she had refused. Yes, she knew that he was cooking the same thing now that he had made all those years ago. And for him to be bringing back a recipe from a time when he had been all alone... She realized that he was making an unmistakable comfort dish. He had been right, at least partially. While she was sure that some idea would have come to her eventually, her methods did make for more complicated preparation. She approached his workstation cautiously, knowing how aggressive he can be in this state.

"So, Ryou... Perhaps just this once we'll go with what you're making for our team dish."

Ryou's attention suddenly broke from the pot of broth that he'd been simmering and was directed at Alice. "I don't think so! I won't allow you to slink away from our battle! I demand that you face my ultimate comfort meal with whatever you consider to be yours. To approach me with anything less is unacceptable!" His intimidating expression peered through Alice, waiting for her to bounce back like she usually would. What he didn't expect from her were tears.

"I-I just... I don't get it, Ryou. I can think of a million and one different ways to manipulate so many dishes, but I can't wrap my mind around the meaning of comfort food," she softly sobbed as she looked away from him, feeling too weak and ashamed to meet his gaze.

His eyes were widened with surprise, he could only stare at the girl who had seemed to be made of iron until this moment. He'd never seen her concede in this way, or show such emotion when faced with something she was unfamiliar with. While ordinarily unstoppable while in his Berserk Mode, for a moment he was at a loss for what to say to her.

Alice continued to avoid his face, her tears streaking down her cheeks. She braced herself for the incoming explosion and ranting she was sure was inevitable. Fingers wrapped around her wrist, and in an instant, Ryou pulled her over to the stove where he'd been tending his pot of simmering broth. Staring into each other's eyes, Ryou finally broke the silence between them.

"Today you will discover it's meaning. Just watch me."

...

"Ah, so you guys are all finished now as well? Guess it's time to dig in!" said Souma as Alice and a much calmer, bandanna-less Ryou approached the front of the hall carrying their trays of food.

The four students sampled the Chazuke first, with Souma pouring the hot green tea over the rice in front of everyone and offering an assortment of toppings on a small side plate. Alice was the first to comment on it. "Wow, this is such a simple dish, but each topping you add to the rice and hot tea creates a new depth of flavor. This would be perfect for a cold winter night when you want to stay warm both inside and out."

"Thanks, Alice. Erina brought a new dimension to it with her pairings for toppings. She had an amazing way of knowing which ones would complement both the tea and the other ingredients. It was great to have the chance to work alongside her."

Red was an understatement to describe the shade of Erina's face after Souma's compliment. "Oh- uhm, it was nothing of course. Nothing out of the usual for someone of my great talents. But your acknowledgment is appreciated."

Ryou served up their dish next, sliding the piping-hot ramekins into shallow bowls and passing them to each of the other teenagers before sitting down with his own.

"Oh wow, this is authentic French Onion soup, isn't it? I've always wanted to make this but rarely have the opportunity," said Souma as he tapped his spoon against the melted cheese and toasted crouton that capped the ramekin. The fragrant aroma of sweet onion and beef broth escaped from the hole he had punched through it. "This broth is delicious; I'm amazed you were able to create such a rich broth in such a short time."

"Yes, and the choice of cheeses, as well as the crouton, were paired well. They complement the richness while also cutting through it with their own flavors. I can tell a lot of thought was put into this dish," said Erina as she softly blew the steam from her spoon and continued to eat.

They continued to eat in silence, the occasional slurping or scraping of spoons against the bowls echoing through the room. As everyone finished, the decision remained as to how they were going to decide which team's dish was superior.

Alice was the first to speak up once the dishes were cleared away. "Okay, I suppose I'll ask the question everyone is obviously thinking right now. Which team won?"

With a smile, Souma replied, "If you think about it, all of us did. We wanted to make the most of our day off. We got to enjoy some casual time in the kitchen, and capped it off by sharing a delicious, comforting meal with each other."

The two Nakiri cousins looked at each other, realizing that Souma was technically right. However, their competitive natures wouldn't let it end with just that.

"No, we need a clear winner here!"

All Souma and Ryou could do was just sigh and shake their heads. Surprisingly, Ryou was the first to speak up.

"Have fun with that then. I'm going to make the most out of the rest of my free time. How about you, Yukihira?"

"Right behind you, let us know when you ladies get it figured out!" Souma said as the two guys left the room.

Alice and Erina just looked at the door, then back at each other. Nakiri family pride kept them from speaking it aloud, but both girls had managed to learn just what it meant to create food as a means of comfort. Something they had never had the benefit of developing during their childhoods.  
"Well, I'm willing to hold off on making a decision until a later date. I have other more important matters to attend to anyway," stated Erina as she tossed her long honey blonde hair off of her shoulder.

"Fine with me, I'm more curious to find out just what Ryou and Yukihira intend on doing for fun together! See you around, cousin!" Alice ran out the door to catch up with the boys, leaving Erina just to shake her head.

But now that she was completely alone now, she finally felt free to smile. For the first time in a while, she had fun while cooking.


End file.
